


Take My Hand

by flyingonfeatherlesswings



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Kid Fic, Pizza, kids getting to be kids, the 80s
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 10:35:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9436421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flyingonfeatherlesswings/pseuds/flyingonfeatherlesswings
Summary: AU: Stephen and Mordo were both raised at Kamar Taj, Stephen since he was a baby and Mordo since he was 8. When they are preteen age they decide to use Mordo's new sling ring skills to go on a covert adventure. Takes place in the 80s.





	

Night had fallen over Kamar Taj and all of its residents were sleeping. Well, everyone was supposed to be sleeping, but two young boys had not gotten that memo. They were awake in their shared bedroom, laid out on a sleep pallet on their stomachs, a book open in front of them. A small glowing orb was shining light down onto the book. 

“Do you think it’ll work?” asked one boy in a whisper. 

“Yeah, I’m sure of it. I managed to get to the Grand Canyon today and that’s further so it shouldn’t be a problem.” 

“But that’s out in the desert isn’t it? What if people see us?”

“No one will see us, we’re going at night.”

“But it says on page 2 it’s the ‘City That Never Sleeps’ maybe people don’t need to sleep there and--”

“Stephen!” snapped the other boy, “It’ll be okay, no one will see us. And if they do I’ll just close the portal.”

Stephen breathed out, trying to regain his calm, “Sorry Karl, I know it’ll be fine. I’m just nervous is all.”

Karl rolled his eyes, “No reason to be. Look, I’ll be there right? I’ll keep you safe.” At that Karl, snapped the book shut and stood up, placing the book on a chest of drawers. “Now let’s go to bed okay? We need to sneak off in the morning, so it’ll be night time in New York, so get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow.” 

With that, the boys crawled into their own respective pallets parallel to each other. Before they slipped off into sleep, Stephen reached out and squeezed Karl’s hand where it was curled by his side. It was a sort of nightly ritual they had developed and provided comfort to the boys that they were together. 

xxxx

“Can Stephen and I go down to the marketplace today?”

“Matters, are you finished with your assignments?” asked the Kamar Taj librarian, Wong, who was the boys’ primary teacher. 

“What does it matter? It’s Saturday,” said Stephen. The three were sitting cross-legged on the floor, having just finished breakfast. The Masters staying at Kamar Taj had already excused themselves, but the boys had continued to pick at their rice with their chopsticks, trying to wait until they were alone with their teacher. 

“Can you not use a pen or paper on a Saturday? Does the day of the week cause you to lose control of your basic motor skills?”

Karl groaned lightly, “Come on Wong, we’ve been reading, and I know you like it when we read, but we’ve been reading about other kids in other parts of the world, and most kids do not have school on Saturday. Saturdays are for sleeping in, which we missed out on already day, and for having fun, for getting to be a kid. All we are asking for is a morning, not even a whole day, just a morning and we will be back by the afternoon.”

Wong leaned back crossing his arms, looking down at Karl, “Why are you so adamant about going to the marketplace anyway?”

“Ravi told us that there’s a new snake-charmer down there and that he lets kids help out sometimes with his tricks,” piped up Stephen, “And gives them sweets afterward.”

Wong let out a sharp laugh, “You see fantastical things every day, and you want to go see some street tricks? And get candy? And who’s Ravi?”

“His father works in the kitchen. But please Wong, please can we go?” whined Stephen, his hands clasped together, trying his best to give the cutest puppy dog eyes he could. Which wasn’t hard, Stephen was adorable. 

Wong rolled his eyes to the ceiling and let out a big sigh, “We ought to ask the Ancient One first.”

Karl sat up, “But she’s away and I don’t think she wants her meditation or her important magic quest interrupted just because we want to take a stroll through the marketplace.”

Wong couldn’t really argue with that and he let his shoulders slump. It wasn’t really fair to the boys being cooped up here all day, they needed to get out and explore by themselves sometimes. Wong had fond memories of China, playing in the fields with his siblings, it wasn’t right to deny the boys those experiences. And while, Kathmandu wasn’t the safest city, Karl was becoming more skilled in the martial arts everyday and was a clever boy, he could certainly look after the more-trusting Stephen. 

“Okay,” sighed out Wong, leading to Stephen letting out a whoop of happiness. “But Karl,” he said pointing at the boy, “You have to promise me that you will look after your brother.”

Karl shivered at the familial word. He and Stephen basically lived like brothers in every way, but he still didn’t think the word fit. It wasn’t because they were different races and nationalities, he didn’t share those things with Wong and he’d happily call him uncle, at least when his back was turned. No it was something else, but he couldn't pin it down quite. He had met Stephen when he was 8, when his father had been killed in a mission against a malevolent demonic entity. He had been on that mission on the request of the Ancient One and she had opened up Kamar Taj for the young son of one of her most loyal students. He still remembers the first day he arrived with a suitcase he could barely lift and was greeted by as tall, bald woman in robes. He had begun to feel overwhelmed until a small figure had peeked out from behind the woman’s skirts and had given him a shy smile. He had quickly grown attached to the then 7 year-old but no, ‘brother’ was not the right word. 

Stephen objected to the statement also, “Hey! Who says I need looking after?” The boy gave a pout and crossed his arms. “Karl is only one year older than me. And he’s only a little bit taller than me.” 

Wong wanted to argue back that Karl had gotten Stephen out of many a scrape but he held back, “Stephen do you want to go to the market?”

Stephen’s eyes swung down and he started fiddling with the hem of his trousers. “Yes,” he admitted. 

“Then indulge me.”

Stephen stared at the ground for a moment longer before sighing, “Okay, I’ll listen to Karl and I’ll stay out of trouble.”

“Good. Now I better see you two in the library by one, okay? And don’t eat too much street food!”

With that Wong stood up, gave a stretch, and left the room. 

The boys waited until he was out of earshot and then Stephen turned to Karl, “Step one? Done.” Karl wasn’t what you would call, an overly happy child most days, but he was fighting down a beaming smile. “Come on, let’s go, we don’t have that much time,” said Karl. 

xxxx

The boys entered into an unused courtyard in Kamar Taj. Karl had on a knapsack on his back, and both were dressed in overly large t-shirts. They weren’t used to wearing such items, but Karl had bought them at the market a few weeks back with a little of his allowance because he knew their normal everyday clothes would cause them to stick out too much. 

Karl looked around the courtyard one more time, but they were safe, this part of the complex had not been used in years, something about a magical attack that left this area’s energy tainted. A portal, though, was a simple enough spell, it shouldn’t be a problem. 

Karl gulped, knowing it was too late to turn back now, and took out his sling ring. Stephen was next to him holding their book open to him and he glanced one last time at the picture before looking straight ahead and moving his arm in a circular motion. A circle of sparks ignited and both boys walked through. 

Once they were through, Karl quickly waved the portal to shut it and then looked around their surroundings. They were on a sidewalk and they were surrounded by trees in the dark. Stephen reached over and took Karl’s hand. “Central Park Karl,” whispered Stephen. The two boys looked at each other and their face broke out in huge smiles. They then raced off hand in hand. 

It wasn’t long before the boys ran out into an open area and there was the famous pool with the fountain in the middle. Some tourists were milling about, enjoying the warm May night. A few turned to give the lone pair of preteen boys glances, but since Karl and Stephen didn’t look distressed or lost, they simply shrugged it off. 

The boys ran off to the fountain and Stephen reached down to splash Karl, causing the other boy to shoot him a scowl. Stephen merely answered back with a giggle. 

The boys explored the area, marveling at the Alice in Wonderland statue, running up the steps. They would hand the book back and forth and find other places they wanted to go and see. Some couples, out for a late night stroll gave them some suspicious looks but they were left on their own. That was until, they caught the attention of a security guard. 

Karl noticed the man following behind them, occasionally speaking into a walkie-talkie, before Stephen did. He slung his arm around the younger boy’s shoulders and whispered into his ear, “We’ve been spotted, try to look but be careful.” Stephen’s shoulders stiffened but his looked back carefully, seeing the man following them. 

“What are we going to do Karl?” Stephen whispered back. 

“We need to go to the next place. Where do you want to go?”

Stephen opened the book and flipped through some pages. His eyes lingered on the majesty of the giant toy store called FAO Schwarz. Their own toys looked a lot less impressive than the plush and plastic ones that the store had to offer, but seeing as how their toys had been bequeathed small amounts of magic, they were actually a lot more fantastic than anything that store had to offer. Still the bright lights, and the environment crafted completely for children was tempting. Nevertheless, the store would surely be closed by this hour. 

Stephen flipped another page, and was met with the viewing deck of the Empire State Building. Also tempting, even if the Ancient One had bundled them up snugly one day and had taken them to the summit of Mount Everest and that was probably a more awe-inspiring view. Still, seeing the glittering lights of all of New York City sounded like a dream. 

“Karl what about here, the book said it’s open until 2am, it’s only 10:30.”

Karl glanced down at the picture as they walked close together, still being pursued. “Yeah but there’s bound to be a lot of people up there, can’t really open a portal without being noticed, don’t you think?”

Stephen pointed down at a small picture on the same page of an empty stairwell, “What about the stairs? They’ll probably be empty. You can just get us to one of the top floors.” 

Karl nodded, this plan made sense to him. They just needed to ditch their new friend. As they rounded a bend in the sidewalk, he whispered into Stephen’s ear, “When I say go, take my hand, and we will taking off running okay? We need to find some place to duck and open a portal.” Stephen nodded. 

They walked for a little while longer until Karl looked back over his shoulder and saw that their stalker was a good distance behind them. He inhaled deeply and let out a sharp, “Go!”

A middle-aged, slightly overweight policeman was really no match for a pair of preteen boys who were used to a lot of physical activity. And so when the boys suddenly sprinted off he started yelling into his walkie-talkie demanding backup to catch the boys. Said boys were quickly out of his sight. 

Stephen and Karl didn’t run far before they were crouching behind some bushes. Karl grabbed the book and looked at the small picture of the stairs, knowing that really they could end up anywhere, and pictured the giant building as clearly as possible in his mind. With another hand movement, a small portal opened up. He looked through and made sure it actually led to the stairs and not to the open air above or around the building and him and Stephen carefully stepped through. 

After Karl had closed the portal behind them, they did indeed find themselves alone in a stairwell. They proceeded towards the top, seeing that Karl had managed to get them to an area just a few floors below the viewing deck. They reached a door that was locked, but Karl said a quick spell and the lock popped open. 

This door led out on the observatory deck and Stephen and Mordo quickly ran forward to blend in with the tourists, staring in awe at the lights of New York City shining below them. 

“Karl, it’s so pretty! Thank you!” said Stephen before giving the other boy a big hug. If Karl’s skin was paler, his face would be covered in a bright red blush. 

They went around to look at all the different angles, Stephen pointing out different famous buildings that he had read about in his book. The buildings in Kathmandu were not built to be nearly as tall and Stephen couldn’t keep gaping at their height. 

“And they did it all without magic?” asked Stephen. 

“Yes, most of these buildings were built over 50 years ago.” 

“Wow!” 

The boys created less suspicion here than they had in Central Park, a few people thought maybe it was a bit late for them to be awake, but otherwise they didn’t catch any significant amount of unwanted attention. 

Karl didn't want to stretch their luck though and he pulled Stephen aside, “Do you want to go to, you know, the big place now?” 

Stephen's eyes lit up and his bobbed his head up and down. “Yes yes yes! Karl let's go!” The boy started to bounce on his feet excitedly. “I'm ready!” 

They slipped back into the stairwell and inspected a map of New York that was in the back of the book and they selected a small side street that was close to their destination. Karl opened another portal and Stephen couldn't move fast enough to get through it.

They managed to open the portal in an alleyway, an alleyway that wasn't exactly empty. There was a homeless man looking through a dumpster in the alley who jumped back with a shout when the fiery ring appeared next to them and two boys ran out. The white boy gave a quick wave to the man, who stood there wide-eyed in shock. 

The boys ran around the corner and down the street before turning down another street. With just a few more turns they came out to a large area full of lights and cars zipping by: Times Square. 

The picture of Times Square on New Year's Eve was Stephen's favorite in their book. The lights, the confetti, the kissing couples. He could stare at it for what seemed like hours.

Seeing the reality of Times Square though, Karl’s heart sank. In reality Times Square was not a bright and happy looking place like the pictures made it out to look like. In actuality, Times Square was a grungy area littered with sex shops and adult theaters. Women with half-lidded eyes stared out at them from all sides (1). 

Karl turned to look at Stephen, an apology on the tip of his tongue, but Stephen's eyes were still full of wonder. “It's like the center of the world!” exclaimed the younger boy. 

The two boys walked around gawking at the big signs, Stephen occasionally asking questions that made Karl shift uncomfortably from foot to foot, not wanting to provide an answer. Finally Stephen’s eyes landed on something they could both agree on checking out: a pizza parlor. 

Karl and Stephen had saved up the meager cash that the Masters at Kamar Taj would give the boys for doing small chores and Karl had gone to a currency exchange a few weeks ago in Kathmandu to convert their money into American dollars so they would be prepared. Altogether they had about $30, more than enough to get them a few slices of pizza. 

Karl and Stephen walked into the small area and the man behind the counter looked up in surprise. “Hey kids, you lost?” asked the kindly looking middle-aged man. 

“No, we’re fine,” said Karl, not wanting attract any more unwanted attention. “Um are you still open?”

“Yep, can’t really make any money in this town if we close up early, especially in this area. Which by the way, it’s not really all that safe for you boys to be running around in this area without an adult, especially at this time of night.”

Karl shook his head, “My dad is coming to get us a little later, but he gave us some money for some pizza, so please?” Karl finished off by holding out the crumpled bills and Stephen stared up at the man with his infamous puppy eyes. 

Their lies and manipulation worked like a charm and the man let out a sigh, “Okay, what do you boys want?”

“We want pizza!” answered back Stephen as happily as he could. 

“Well I know,” said the man with a laugh. “What kind of pizza do you want?”

The boys looked at each other with twin looks of confusion. They weren’t that familiar with pizza. Of course there were some pizza places in Kathmandu but really the only food that wasn’t prepared by the cooks at Kamar Taj they were familiar with was the street food. Pizza wasn’t street food and they’d only seen it in books, they didn’t know it came in different kinds. 

“Uh, what kinds are there?” asked Karl finally. 

“Well we have your standard cheese, then pepperoni--”

“What’s pepperodi?” interrupted Stephen. 

The man laughed again, “Pepperoni, it’s a type of spiced ham that goes on pizza. We have that, cheese, Hawaiian and Supreme.”

Stephen giggled a little at the last one, leaning over to whisper in Karl’s ear, “Sorcerer Supreme pizza.” Karl rolled his eyes, “We’ll have a cheese.” He knew what cheese was, it was safe.

“What size? Small, medium, or large?”

“Small,” said Karl, then he looked over at Stephen who he could tell was trying to telepathically beg for a bigger size. “Uh okay medium.”

After paying the two boys sat down at the checkered table and awaited their meal. When the man came out with the pizza they gasped at the sight of it. It almost looked exactly like it did in their storybooks, like a dream come true. It smelled delicious and the boys couldn’t stop their mouths from watering. 

The man quirked an eyebrow, “Why do you boys look like you’ve never had pizza before? I can tell you aren’t from around these parts, the accents give you away (2). But you must have had pizza wherever you are from.” 

Karl scoffed, “Of course we’ve had pizza. Just not you know, New York City pizza.” 

“Yeah New York pizza is the best in the world, though my opinion may be biased.”

The man showed the boys the proper New York way of eating pizza, folding it in half, and the boys dug in. After they had devoured a few slices, the man came back out with a couple of cups in his hands. 

“Thought you boys may like a couple of cokes,” said the man, “On the house of course.” 

The boys only really drank water and tea, maybe a student at Kamar Taj would make them a sugary concoction to drink if they were lucky. So they were understandably weary of the dark liquid the man was offering them. Stephen, nonetheless, reached out and took the offered cup. 

As the man passed over the drink he caught a glance of Stephen’s outstretched arm, which had some faded, yellowish bruises on it. “Whoa there champ, you been getting into fights?”

Stephen looked down at his arm as he set down the cup, “Oh those are from Master Drumm, he’s trying to make my reflexes better.” 

“We are in martial arts classes,” said Karl sternly, trying to reassure the curious man. 

The guy looked a little longer at Stephen’s arm before nodding, “Whatever you say bud.” He then turned back and around and returned to the kitchen. 

Stephen and Karl sipped tentatively at their cokes, Stephen enjoying the syrupy sweetness while Karl made a face in disgust and went back to eating his pizza. 

They had almost finished it off when two men walked through the door, the bell ringing to signal their arrival. The men were dressed in navy blue uniforms with hats, guns were holstered on their hips and they had shiny badges. Stephen leaned over and said excitedly, “Look Karl! Policemen!”

The cops looked around the place and caught sight of the boys and started towards them. Karl instantly tensed up and felt himself fill up with dread. Stephen, meanwhile, couldn't help but beam with excitement.

“Well hello boys, how are you tonight?”

“Hello officer!” said Stephen and then saluted for some reason. Karl shot him an annoyed glare before turning to the approaching policemen. “We are fine officers, and yourself?” asked the boy trying his best not to look alarmed at all. 

“Well boys, we are a bit puzzled if we are being perfectly honest. Now what are two young boys like yourself doing in one of the most dangerous parts of New York City alone at this time of night?”

“Eating pizza,” replied Karl curtly.

The officer laughed, “Well we can see that, but where are your parents?”

“My dad is supposed to come get us soon,” said Karl. 

“Do you have a number we can call to get ahold of him?”

Karl wracked his brain for an excuse but ended up lamely hanging his head and saying a weak, “No.”

The officer who had kept quiet up until that moment put his hand on his hip, “Well how about this then? We will all go down to the station and wait for him there. If he comes here, this nice man will send him down that way.” He gestured to the pizza parlor worker who was giving Karl an apologetic look, obviously having called the cops on them. Karl merely glared back. 

“So we get to ride in a police car?” asked Stephen, not understanding the severity of the situation. “Can you turn on the lights?”

One cop chuckled, “Sorry son, just for emergencies.”

“Can you put me in handcuffs?”

“Certainly not!” 

While Stephen relished the idea of getting to visit a police station, Karl’s stomach was filling with panic. The policemen blocked the only exit and even if he could get away, there's no telling if he could grab Stephen. Plus the police officers had guns, a weapon he was not familiar with at all. He wasn't sure how likely it was that the officers would use them.

“Now come along boys.” They got up and Stephen waved at the worker while Karl gave him his best sneer. Looks like they'd just have to go along with the officers until Karl and Stephen could get away from them and open a portal.

The boys entered into the back of the police car and were instructed to fasten their seatbelts. They had seen plenty of cars on the streets of Kathmandu, but this was the first time Stephen had been in one and was fascinated with the interior. Karl had ridden in cars before he had been taken into the care of Kamar Taj and he just stared out of the window. 

Stephen excitingly chattered next to him as the lights of the city zipped by them. Pointing at certain landmarks and asking a plethora of questions. The officers were happy to indulge the boy and tried to ask them some questions in return about where they lived, what their parents did, etc. But Karl always managed to interject with the vaguest answers possible and redirect Stephen’s attention to something else.

When they were almost at the station, Stephen’s chattering fell quiet and a hand came up to grip his stomach. Karl was instantly worried, “Stephen, what's wrong?”

“My belly just started feeling bad,” replied Stephen, eyebrows furrowing. 

“It's probably just the car ride, you aren't used to it,” said Karl, but the other boy had fallen silent.

They pulled up to the station and the cops jumped out, escorting the boys into a waiting area. Stephen was still quiet, hand still holding his aching stomach. One cop gave the boy, who had been so happy just a moment ago, a quizzical look, “You okay there buddy?” 

Stephen shook his head, long scraggly hair brushing his forehead and his face started to look a bit green. Karl suddenly stood up straighter as he noticed it was the perfect time to get Stephen and himself alone. “I think he may be sick sir! Please let take him to a toilet.”

“Yeah that sounds like a good idea,” said one cop. They brought the boys back through some offices to a bathroom containing a single toilet. Karl smiled, it was perfect for their escape. 

After they were alone, Karl turned to Stephen, now pale and slightly shaking, “Okay I can open a portal here, but would you rather wait until you've been sick?”

Stephen shook his head. “Wanna go home,” said the boy in a pathetic broken whine.

“Okay home it is,” said Karl. But when the boy reached into his pocket for his sling ring, he found it empty. He desperately patted himself over and over looking for the item, but finding it nowhere on his person. “Uh Stephen?” 

“What?” said the ill boy, who had started rubbing his stomach in a fruitless effort to stop the rolling motions it was doing. 

“Do you have my sling ring?”

Stephen stopped his rubbing and looked up and made panicked eye contact with Karl before his expression changed and he lunged for the toilet, releasing the contents of his stomach into it. 

Karl came up behind him and rubbed his back as he wretched, “I'll take that as a no.” 

The boy vomited in waves before his stomach had no more to bring up and he sat in a defeated heap on the floor, looking stunned at what had just happened to him. After a few seconds, his expression crumbled and he let out a sob as tears started to run down his face. 

Karl moved forward on the floor and gathered the other boy in his arms, rubbing a comforting hand up and down his back as boy cried into his neck. Once the worst of the sobs were finished, Stephen pulled back and looked at Karl with watery eyes and flushed cheeks. “I want Mama,” Stephen said in a defeated whisper.

Karl couldn't do anything but nod, “Yeah, I want her too.”

xxxx

Back in the waiting room, Karl felt completely helpless. Stephen was still feeling miserable and had crawled into Karl’s lap, his arms tight around the older boy’s shoulders and his face snuggled into his neck. Karl had been trying to get him to drink from a canned soft drink called Sprite using a straw that an officer had given him, but Stephen had dozed off. 

Karl caught snippets of passing conversations about the boys. They were talking about what it could mean, a black and a white boy out in New York all alone, both with more scars and bruises than two little boys should have. He heard the term, “social services” more than a few times.

Karl’s brain was flooded with the worst case scenarios he could think of. Stephen and him being stuck here, getting split up and put into the system. Never seeing the Ancient One or Wong ever again. Kamar Taj being forever lost to them. It was almost enough to cause Karl also to burst into tears. He didn't want to lose his family all over again.

Just before he let panic overcome him though, the front door of the station banged open and someone ran up to the front desk. “Hello! I heard you have my boys?”

“Two boys were brought in yes, a white boy and a black boy, both about 11 or 12.”

“That sounds like my boys yes,” the feminine voice answered. 

“And their names?”

“Stephen and Karl.”

“Well okay ma’am, they are right back here.”

The gate into the waiting area opened revealing the the frantic looking woman. She had a large purple sweater on with a cat embroidered on it over blue jeans. She had laced up sneakers and a large hand bag slung over her shoulder. But most shocking was the big teased hair, pushed back with a headband and the face full of bright make-up. Despite the disguise though, and the fake American accent she was putting on, Karl would know that face anywhere.

“Oh my boys! There you are!” exclaimed the Ancient One as she ran to the boys. “You had your Mama worried sick!”

“Sorry...Mama,” Karl managed to get out in his shocked state. While Stephen occasionally used the term to refer to their guardian, considering she had raised him since infancy, Karl had never really adopted the familial term for her, instead sticking to her title or just ma’am, and the word felt foreign on his tongue.

“I'm just glad to see you're alright,” said the Ancient One. “I went to the pizza place you said you wanted to go to thinking that's where you two had run off to and the man there told me what happened.” She supplied the lie loud enough so that the officers could hear it. 

She reached down and took Stephen from Karl’s lap, heaving him up into her arms. She let out a grunt of exertion, “Oh Stephen, you're getting heavy, your Mama can't keep doing this.” Karl knew that was a complete lie, he'd seen the woman lift boulders before. 

Stephen blinked opened his eyes, blearily looking at the woman holding him confusedly for a moment before settling his head on his shoulder and his arms around her neck, wrapping his gangly legs around her waist. “Mama you look so pretty,” he mumbled out before dozing off again. 

An officer came out asking the woman a variety of questions with the Ancient One supplying lie after lie. She explained that the boys were her adopted sons and they had sneaked out while she had stepped out for a moment to visit an ill neighbor. She rolled her eyes explaining that while she had fed them dinner the boys had been whining for weeks to go out for pizza. She said that she had planned to take them out after their karate tournament, explaining the bruises, but that certainly wasn't happening now. 

The Ancient One supplied documents that proved that they were her adopted sons and then tried her best to end the questioning.

“Please officer, my Stephen obviously isn't feeling well and I'd like to get him home. I can give you my address and you can have someone come around tomorrow?”

“Well ma’am…”

“Please?” said the woman, fluttering her heavily mascaraed eyelashes and giving the man her best pleading look. Karl tried his best not to look horrified. The Ancient One was flirting, what a spectacle. 

“Well okay, we will come around and check on the boys tomorrow.”

“Thank you officer, I'm just so relieved you found them.” 

With that, the Ancient One, Stephen still in her arms, walked out of the door of the station into the night, Karl following behind. The minute the door banged shut behind them, Karl looked up at his guardian, “Ma’am, I’m so--”

But the Guardian cut him off with the wave of her hand and pulled out a familiar object from her pocket. It was his sling ring and she tossed it to him. “Just get us home,” said the Ancient One, her soft British accent having returned.

Karl gulped, knowing not to bother asking when she had gotten it, and shakingly opened a portal back to Kamar Taj. 

xxxx

It was around lunchtime in Kamar Taj and the first thing the Ancient One did was dispel the illusion on her, returning her back to her bald and robed state. 

Karl followed her to the infirmary, where the old healer woman helped her to disentangle Stephen from her body. Stephen let out a weak whine of protest as he was laid on a cot and clenched the Ancient One’s sleeve in her hand. But the woman swiped back his hair on his forehead and laid a soft kiss on it before standing back up, Stephen once more returned to sleeping. She explained to the healer that the boys had probably just indulged too much and Stephen’s body had become overwhelmed, the healer needed only make sure he didn't get dehydrated. 

After they left Stephen in the infirmary, Karl and the Ancient One moved on to her private quarters. Once she had closed the doors behind her, Karl was on his knees.

“I'm so sorry Ancient One! We disobeyed you and compromised Kamar Taj!” said Karl, voice laced with regret.

His face was to the floor and he was shaking with deep breaths. After a few moments, bare feet came into his line of sight and Karl felt a hand on his shoulder. “Karl stand up. Come and have some tea.”

Karl did as she told but his eyes still couldn't meet her’s as she poured him a cup. “So New York City?” said the Ancient One with a little amusement in her voice, “Wong told me that you too were attached to that book. So you perfected using your sling ring and wanted to go sightseeing?” 

Karl shrugged, face still hanging low, hand fumbling with the hem of his shirt.

The Ancient One put her teacup down, “Karl look at me,” Karl peeked up at her, “I’m not going to seriously scold you right now, it wouldn't be fair with Stephen not being here, I know you fancy him more of a sidekick but I also know he isn't as innocent as he lets on. No, I just want to know why.”

Karl didn't provide an answer and the Ancient One sighed, “Karl the longer you are silent the more severe your punishments will be, so tell me why you orchestrated it and you know I will know if you're lying, so don't even try that.” 

Karl looked off to the side, “Uh, I made a promise.”

“A promise to whom?”

“Stephen. On his last birthday.”

“And what did you promise him?” 

“That I’d show him his home, well where his parents were from.”

The Ancient One nodded, “Ah I see then.”

Karl’s eyes fell again, staring down at the tea in his cup. “We know Kamar Taj is our home, it's just Stephen wanted to see the things they saw.”

The Ancient One was a little lost for words, she made a mental note to sit down with Stephen, maybe tell him things about his birth parents she had been putting off telling him. “Well Karl that was kind of you, you're a good brother.”

Karl suppressed the wince again.

The Ancient One continued, “Still doesn't change the fact that you took Stephen into one of the most dangerous cities in the world in the middle of the night.”

Karl’s eyes shot up at this accusation and he slammed his hands on the table, rattling the tea set, “He wasn't in danger! I can protect him! He was never in any danger!” 

The Ancient One let the seething boy sit back down and get ahold himself. She considered him before nodding, “Huh, it isn't right.”

“What?” snapped Karl.

“The word brother, you're more like a knight, aren't you?”

Karl merely crossed his arms and pouted.

“Anyhow,” said the Ancient One sipping her tea, “We will discuss punishments later. One of you will be helping out in the kitchen while the other is in the gardens I'm sure.” 

At that the Ancient One stood up and moved to the door. Before she left Karl, she turned to the boy, “Karl, one question, even with the punishment, would you do it again if you could?”

Karl knowing he couldn't lie to her, nodded in a quick jerk. Stephen had been so happy and he was sure the other boy didn't regret it either despite the vomiting. “I guess it was worth it seeing how weird you look with hair.” 

The Ancient One threw back her head and let on a tinkling laugh before exiting the room.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Times Square was not "disneyfied" until the 90s, in the 80s it was still more of a rough area.   
> 2\. I figure they both sound vaguely British, Wong and TAO are their biggest influences accent wise.


End file.
